Due to various factors, legal and jurisdictional issues often hinder the administration and delivery of Social and Rehabilitation Service (SRS) services on reservations. Focusing on child welfare programs, legal and jurisdictional problems concerning the delivery of SRS services on reservations and the means of coping with them were explored through field research at 10 reservations in 8 states and library legal research. Child welfare services were defined as including foster care, adoption, day care, protective services, and certain institutional and homemaker services. Field research disclosed complex interagency relationships and patterns of service delivery. Three major recurrent legal and jurisdictional problems were uncovered; conflicting legal interpretations about the roles and responsibilities of state or county offices in providing certain SRS services on reservations; state rulings that the state cannot license facilities on reservations; and reluctance of some state courts and institutions to honor tribal court orders. In the long run, no final resolution of the basic jurisdictional tension will be possible without major Federal legislation, probably including amendments to the Social Security Act. Several alternatives and recent legal rulings are discussed in detail. (NQ)